Egypt's Internet Crackdown

The Mubarak regime shut down Internet and cell phone communications before launching a violent crackdown against political protesters (watch Free Press' Timothy Karr discuss the use of technology in Egypt in the video to the right).

Free Press has discovered that an American company — Boeing-owned Narus of Sunnyvale, CA — had sold Egypt "Deep Packet Inspection" (DPI) equipment that can be used to help the regime track, target and crush political dissent over the Internet and mobile phones. Narus is selling this spying technology to other regimes with deplorable human rights records.

The power to control the Internet and the resulting harm to democracy are so disturbing that the threshold for using DPI must be very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely used around the world and at home, the U.S. government must establish clear and legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such surveillance and control technology.

Free Press is calling for Congress to investigate the use and sale of DPI technology by American companies. Add your name to our letter now.

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    Dear Member of Congress,

    I am writing you with grave concerns about the sale of spying technology to repressive regimes overseas. We have learned that one American company, Narus, has sold deep-packet-inspection technology (DPI) to the state-run telecommunications firm in Egypt.

    This technology is produced and sold overseas by several American companies, and is being used by regimes in Egypt, Iran, China and elsewhere to spy on Internet and cellphone communications, and even, track down political dissidents.

    The harm to democracy and the power to control the Internet are so disturbing that the threshold for the global trafficking in DPI must be set very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely used around the world and at home, Congress must establish legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such control and surveillance technologies.

    We urge you to protect free speech online at home and abroad, by calling on Congress to investigate the sale of DPI by U.S. firms.